Official says time to create Turkish lira-Russian ruble region

Releasing a written statement, Ali Candir, chairperson of the Antalya Commodity Exchange, said that he had recently proposed developing a strategy that would enable the use of the Turkish and Russian currencies in bilateral trade with not only Russia, but also with countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States and Turkic Republics.Â

Candir said that such plan was expressed during Turkish President Abdullah Gul's recent talks in Russia as well.

"Despite all bilateral and technical difficulties, we believe that it is now time to take action based on the vision to create a TL-RUB region in foreign trade activities that would be held between countries of the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC), Commonwealth of Independent States, Turkic Republics and Iran," Candir said.

Candir also said that usability of Turkish and Russian currencies in bilateral trade between Turkey and Russia would be the first step of such process.